Eulogy
by ShazzyZhang
Summary: Set after All Saints Day. Duffy is charged with giving Greenly's eulogy and he's not sure how to word it, but he does anyway.


_AN: I needed to write this. I just re-watched part of All Saints Day and found myself crying like a little girl again. The scene where Greenly gets shot was too brutal for me. This is seriously a huge thing for me and to see it on screen damn near killed me. 10 + years getting to love the characters is a long time. _

_Anyway... Get teary-eyed, Flock. You'll be relieved when this is done._

_Usual disclaimers, Troy Duffy still owns this franchise._

_Slainté_

_-Shazzy_

**Eulogy**

The day was grey and drizzled with rain off and on sporadically. It was funeral weather, no doubt about it.

Connor and Murphy MacManus stood quietly next to the open grave. They'd woken up in time to see the funeral, and had been given the final courtesy to attend the public burial of Detective Greenly, claiming that now that he was gone, they could admit to having been friends with him before their killing spree. They didn't get a chance to bury Il Duce.

Both sets of blue eyes were turned towards the ground and their mouths moved in quiet prayer.

"_And shepherds we shall be, for thee my Lord, for thee..."_

No one recognized them, thankfully. They were not shackled and they were allowed to wear civilian clothes for the day. No one wanted a bigger scene than it already was. Even their guards were civil and didn't make a scene. No one expected the Saints to run. Not surrounded by this many cops. Besides, they'd promised to behave.

"_Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command..."_

Detectives Dolly and Duffy stood across from the Saints. They refused to make eye contact with the boys, just in case someone was watching too closely. Both of the elder men had blamed themselves for the unnecessary death of their younger partner. And neither of them were too keen on burying another friend, not when the bitter taste of Agent Smecker's death still lingered in everyone's mouths.

"_And we shall flow a river forth to Thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be..."_

There were people who didn't know Greenly personally, but were there to show support for their police force. The police themselves were dressed in dress uniforms and half of them gave sneering looks to the brothers. Many of them blamed the Saints for Greenly's murder, despite it being proved that it was a hired hit-man sent to take out the MacManuses, and Greenly had just been in the way.

"_In nomine Patris, et Filis, et Spiritus Sancti."_

Detective Duffy had been selected to give the eulogy. Dolly had fought against it, saying that he would do it, but Duffy refused. He _wanted_ to give it. After a long sermon, and a speech from the chief, Duffy shuffled his way to the podium. He avoided looking at the unsightly photo of Greenly that they'd set on the easel behind him. He always hated the visual aids at these functions. And the photos they used were never the ones you'd want to be remembered by.

Duffy shot a quick glance to the MacManus brothers. Both sets of eyes were focused on him, waiting to hear what this man would say about their dearly departed friend. Duffy knew that the brothers blamed themselves. If they hadn't gotten back in touch, if things had gone differently maybe...

No. Duffy knew it wasn't their fault. Greenly had been resigned to getting killed on duty, he was expecting it every day. It was part of the job.

An imperceptible nod from Connor told Duffy to go on with his speech. Murphy turned his eyes back to the coffin that held Greenly's remains, just waiting to be lowered into the ground.

Duffy sighed and stared at the note in front of him. He had better make it good.

"Detective Greenly was a good man." Duffy said slowly. "He was the kind of man that you knew would be looking over your shoulder to make sure that everything was all right. He always had your back, regardless of if you had his. He was the kind of man that you would want on your side in a fight because no matter how screwed up things got, he never backed off, and he never backed down.

"There were times that he was not the smartest person in the room, but how many of us can honestly say that we have never been that person?" A small smile touched his lips as he thought back on all the insane theories and lame jokes he'd been forced to endure in his years as Greenly's partner. "He used it to cope with the things we were forced to deal with every day, and he got a lot of flak for it, but he always took it all in stride. No matter what.

"I didn't have the good luck to know him for as long as I had hoped to, or on a much more personal level than I would have liked. Work was always first with us. Working the same beat was tough, but he managed to make it a little more bearable. We'd had our share of horrors thrown at us, but somehow, he never seemed to let it get to him.

"It seems unfair that such a man, someone who loved life more than anything else, would be the one to have it cut short so drastically, so brutally. I can't say that I feel lucky to still be standing here, looking at all of you when I know that he is gone. I do know that his killer was brought to justice, however, and while we have lost one of the good guys, there is also one less bad guy in the world. It's not a perfect trade, or a fair one, but we take what we can get.

"I know that Greenly is in a better place now. There's no question about that. And we're left to carry on. We have to carry on. Even though the world's gonna seem a little darker, a little more grim, we have to keep on. Because it's what he would've done."

He frowned here, struggling to find the words.

"Mourn, but remember that he would have a joke, a witty retort and a stupid comment for you. He'd hate to see you moping about. So mourn now, while you're young, while you can. 'Cause you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, but if you can make that joke, or that stupid comment and get just one smile, then life is still worth living. It's what he would've done."


End file.
